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Agence France-Presse

The annual report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Tuesday that journalism was at least partly blocked in nearly three-quarters of the 180 countries surveyed.
Its World Press Freedom Index found 73 countries “totally blocked or seriously impeded” journalism, while it was “constrained” in 59 others, adding that many governments had used the coronavirus pandemic to worsen repression.
“Journalism is the best vaccine against disinformation,” RSF secretary general Christophe Deloire said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, its production and distribution are too often blocked by political, economic, technological and, sometimes, even cultural factors.”
Eritrea, North Korea, Turkmenistan, China and Djibouti fared worst overall in this year’s RSF ranking.
Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Costa Rica were ranked highest.
Beijing bans BBC World News, saying it ‘seriously violated’ Chinese media regulations
The Middle East and North Africa region continues to be the most repressive for journalists, the report found, highlighting the worsening situation in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria over the past year.
“In this region, still the toughest and most dangerous for journalists, the pandemic has exacerbated the problems that have long plagued the press, which was already in its death throes,” it said.
Malaysia recorded the worst deterioration, down 18 places in the ranking to 119, due in part to a recent “anti-fake news” law “allowing the government to impose its own version of the truth”.



RSF said the global level of media freedom remained largely stable overall for the past year, but noted that the figures had deteriorated by 12 per cent since the ranking was first launched in 2013.
Part of the problem is falling trust in journalists, fuelled by political polarisation and online misinformation.
RSF noted a recent survey by the Edelman Trust that found 59 per cent of respondents across 28 countries believed journalists deliberately misled the public.
The World Press Freedom Index is based on questionnaires sent to experts around the world, combined with data on abuse and acts of violence against journalists to form a picture that includes pluralism, media independence, self-censorship and other factors.


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Coronavirus pandemic

World Press Freedom Index finds media partly or completely blocked in 132 countries

The annual report by Reporters Without Borders said that journalism was at least partly blocked in nearly three-quarters of the 180 countries surveyed. File photo: AFP

Australian journalist Cheng Lei’s arrest in China causes concern, press freedom fears

Cheng Lei, a Chinese-born Australian journalist for CGTN, the English-language channel of China Central Television, is seen attending an event in Beijing in August 2020. She was detained the following month and formally arrested on Friday. Photo: AP

(FILES) This undated file image of a frame grab taken from handout video by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) / Australia Global Alumni on September 1, 2020 shows Australian journalist Cheng Lei at an unknown location. - Cheng Lei, an Australian news anchor for Chinese state television, has been formally arrested and accused of "illegally supplying state secrets overseas", Canberra said on February 8, 2021, six months after she was detained in China without explanation. (Photo by Handout / Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) / Australia Global Alumni / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO /Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) / Australia Global Alumni" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - NO ARCHIVES

Australian journalist Cheng Lei is seen on a television set in Beijing, China, in this still image taken from undated video footage. Australia Global Alumni-Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MANDATORY CREDIT. PLEASE REFER TO GUIDELINES IN https://www.dfat.gov.au/about-us/about-this-website/Pages/copyright

Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK’s ban on BBC programming sparks questions over press freedom and ‘one country, two systems’

RTHK has decided to follow Chinese regulators’ lead in cancelling programming from the BBC. Photo: EPA-EFE

(2nd of left)Bruce Lui Ping-kuen, convenor of The Independent Commentators Association, observe outside SOCO in Causeway Bay. 01OCT20 SCMP/ Nora Tam

Chris Yeung Kin-hing, Chairman of the Journalists Association (HKJA), meets the press in Wan Chai. 24SEP20 SCMP / Nora Tam

FILE - In this Monday, Dec. 3, 2018, file photo, a guard tower and barbed wire fences are seen around a facility in the Kunshan Industrial Park in Artux in western China's Xinjiang region. The U.S. Customd snd Border Protection on Wednesday said it will block imports from a major Chinese producer of cotton goods for its suspected use of workers detained as part of a crackdown on ethnic minorities in China's northwest. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

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Eritrea, North Korea, Turkmenistan, China and Djibouti fared worst overall in this year’s Reporters Without Borders ranking
The report said many governments had used the coronavirus pandemic to worsen repression



Eritrea, North Korea, Turkmenistan, China and Djibouti fared worst overall in this year’s Reporters Without Borders ranking.


Censorship